Voltage-regulator.



H. A. LAYCOCK.

. VOLTAGE REGULATOR. APPLICATION HLED JAN.12= .916

1,230,728: Patented-M11619, 1917.

Fig.1. Fig. 2.

inventor; T'TQ ALF; acoc k, b S (/L/AK/M/Q Iran v L 4;. 1.. .3. slideHARRY A. LAYCOCK, (3F SCHEHECTADY, NVL YORK, ASSIGNOE To GEllEEALELECTEEfl CQIEPAITY, A COREQRATIQN IiEiF] YORK.

VOLTAGE-BEGULAE." l?

Lzggflgs Specification of ftctters Eatent. I a-tented 5 Applicationfiled January 153, 916. Serial lie. 71,781.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HARRY A. LAYCOCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Voltage-Regulators, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to voltage regulators for dynamo-electricmachines, and more especially to the mechanical construction of aregulator which is particularly adapted for use upon a moving vehicle.

Voltage regulators of the type in which vibrating contacts are used toshort-circuit a resistance included in the field circuit of thegenerator, are well known. One type of such a regulator, which is usedfor direct current machines commonly employs a vibrating contactassociated with a fixed con tact, and it has been customary to supportthis vibrating contact upon a pivoted arnia ture, springpressed in onedirection and adapted to be attracted by an electi'oniagnet whosewinding is responsive to the voltage of the generator. ll hen sucha-ccnslruction is used upon a moving vehicle, however, or is otherwiseexposed to disturbing vibrations, the operation is unsatisfactory, because of the mass of the moving parts, and varies with the position inwhich the regulator is supported. In other cases the vibrating contacthas been supported upon a resilient strip, which was commonly fiat andsupported at one or both ends. ll hen supported at only one end, such aspring has insufficient rigidity to allow the regulator to be mounted inhorizontal or "inverted position. Further, because of the fact that theuseful length of this form of spring mustproject to one side ofthecenter or the magnet, it commonly cannot, because of spacelimitations, be given enough length to mane it suiiiciently flexible inthe normal dir ction ofmoveinent. If supported both ends, so as to getthe desired rigidity to retain the moving contact in proper relation tothe fixed contact, then the spring tension increases very considerablywith a sligl'it increase in the movement of the contact, so

that an increase in voltage does not produce a correspondingly increasedseparation of the contacts. Furthermore, either of these forms of springhas a natural period vibration which, when made active by the jar of avehicle, may disturb the forced vibrations caused by the electromagnet.

My present invention has for itsobjecttc overcome the diiliculties abovenientionei, and to produce a regulator which is suitable for use upon amoving vehicle, as, for example, in connection with the lighting sys temof an automobile. To this end, con; struct the moving parts of theegulatcr with as little mass aspossible, so that their action will bepractically independent of the force of gravity, and so mount them thattheir position will be subst .ntially unafiected by the position inwhich the regulator is mounted. l also make the construction such thatthe vibrations of the vehicle shall have as little effect as possiblenpon'the movements the moving contact; and such that the contact betweenthe two contact points when closed shall he firm. The moving armature ofmy regulator is spring-supported,and, in order that a nit change of liunmay produce a corresponding unit increase in the separation of thecontacts, I so construct the spring that its resistance to bendingincreases substantiaily directly as the force applied.

My invention will be better. understood bv reference to the accompanyindrawings, which Figure l is a. front ele nation of a combined regulatorand reverse current relay, constructed in accordance with my invention;is a longitudinal section thereof taken in a plane at right angles toFig. 1; 3 is a perspective view of the form of spring which I employ;while Fig. l: is a diagrammatic view showing the connec ons of thecombined regulator and reverse cur rent relay in' a lighting system.

deterring to Fig. i, it will be seen that have illustrated my device inconnection with a -"1n which comprises a direct-cur l. -ater 1 having ashunt field winding in series with which is an adjustable resistanc Thisgenerator, which may be driven by the engine of an automobile, or fromthe axle of a moving vehicle, is arranged. to supply current forcharging the storage battery 2%, and for the lights or other translatindevices interposed between the'generator and the translating devices, I

have provided a combined regulator and cutout which comprisescooperating contacts 4 and 5 connected in shunt with the fieldresistance 3. As will be seen from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2, thecontact a is relatively fixed, and is adjustably supported by means of ascrew upon a stud attached to the base of the device. The movable contact 5 is supported by means of a spring 6 formed of a light, thin, flatribbon of steel rigidly attached at its ends to fixed supports 7, andprovided intermediate the moving contact and the ends with relativelylarge, almost circular loops 8. Adjacent the contact 5, andapproximately at the middle of the supporting spring, is secured amagnetic armature 9, which is adapted tocooperate with the'core 10 of anelectromagnet. This electromagnet is preferably provided with a socalledshunt winding 11, which is of high resistance. and is commonlyconstructed of relatively fine wire. It will be seen from an inspectionof Fig. 4 that this winding is connected across the terminals of thegenerator, and is, accordingly, responsive to variations of the voltagedelivered thereby. Cooperating with the shunt winding 11 is a so-calledseries winding 12, which is of low resistance and is commonlyconstructed of a few turns of relatively large wire. Cooperating withthe other end of the core 10 is an armature 13, mounted upon a pivotedmember 14, spring-pressed by means of the spring 15 away from the core,and having its movement in this direction limited by means of a stop 16.This member 14 also carries a movable contact member 17, adapted, whenthe armature 13 is in its attracted position, to cooperate with thefixed contact member 18 to close the circuit between the generator andthe translating devices. The

translating devices 25, instead of being directly connected to thestorage battery, are preferably connected to an intermediate tap on theseries winding 12. As a result, the under compounding effect of thecurrent delivered to the lights 25 will not be as large as wouldotherwise be the case.

The operation of my improved regulator is, as follows: As in otherregulators of this class, the resistance 3 is of such a magnitude thatit has a considerable effect on the volt age of the generator, and, whenincluded in circuit with the shunt field winding, reduces the voltage ofthe generator considerably below the desired value, and when removedtherefrom allows said voltage to increase considerably above the desiredvalue. If, therefore, the contacts 4 and 5 be rapidly opened and closed,the voltage of the generator will be repeatedly varied, and its valuewill depend upon the relative length of the periods during which thecontacts are open and closed. Evidently, the length of these periodswill depend upon the distance by which the fixed and moving contacts arement here shown should increase substantially directly as the forceapplied over a considerable range of movement of the armature 9. Owingto the construction of my flat steel spring with relatively largecircular loops, it will be seen that this result is satisfactorilyaccomplished, and, furthermore, that the looped spring provides a rangeof movement comparable with that of a helical spring and considerablygreater than that of a fiat spring fastened at one or both ends. By myconstruction, in which I have provided a spring constructed of a thin,flat strip of steel secured at both ends, I have devised an arrangementin which the operation of the device is substantially independent of theposition of the regulator. This will be seen to follow from thedescription of the spring, and from the fact that it is only necessaryto make the armature 9 of such dimensions that it is of very smallweight. Thus, the regulator will operate almost equally well in either ahorizontal or in a vertical position.

As constructed, my regulator will ordinarily be combined with a reversecurrent relay, the function of which is to disconnect the generator fromthe storage battery when, owing to variations in the speed at which thegenerator is driven, the voltage thereon is lower than that of thebattery. This prevents a reversal of current and any attempt to drivethe generator as a motor, and is shown and described in my applicationSerial No. 776,517, filed June 30, 1913. When the generator voltage issufliciently large so that it is ready to supply current to the storagebattery and lights, the flux produced by the winding 11 will besufficient to attract the armature 13 and close the circuit through theseries winding. The flux produced by said winding will aid that producedby the winding 11. The effect of the series winding will result ingiving the battery a satisfactory character of charge, byundercompounding the generator, whereby the current supplied when thebattery is in a low state of charge will not be excessive, and thevoltage appliedthereto will be gradually increased as the batterybecomes more fully charged. It, now, at any time the speed of thegenerator, and, consequently, its voltage, decreases to a point where itis less than the voltage of the battery, then it is desirable todisconnect the battery from the generator. The force of the spring 15should ordinarily be sufficient to open the contacts, but addition itwill be seen that as soon as there is a reversal of arrangement of willbe understood that I do not decurrent through the winding 12, due tothis state of afiairs, said winding will produce a flux opposing thatproduced by the winding 11, thereby rapidly demagnetizing the core 10.

While I have shown and described one particular construction, which isthe best my device now known to me, it sire to be limited to this exactarrangement, but seek to cover in the appended claims all thosemodifications and variations which come within the spirit and scope ofmyinvention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is,-

1. In a vibratory circuit interrupter, the combination of anelectromagnet, an armature associated therewith, circuit controllingmeans operated by said armature, and a looped spring supporting saidarmature, said spring being attached to a rigid support at each end.

2. In a voltage regulator, the combination and formed of a of anelectromagnet, an armature associated therewith, a contact carried bysaid armature, a fixed contact in operative relation to said movingcontact, and a spring supporting said armature and moving contact, saidspring being rigidly supported at its ends, fiat, thin strip ofresilient material looped between the armature and the supports.

3. In a vibratory circuit interrupter, the combination of anelectromagnet, an armature associated therewith, circuit controllingmeans operated by said armature, and a supporting spring for saidarmature rigidly attached at its ends to a suitable support, and formedof a fiat strip looped between the center and each end, so that thecenter may move in the longitudinal axis of said winding and berestrained from movement trans versely thereof.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day ofJanuary, 1916.

HARRY A. LAYGOCK.

